Holiday in Spain

Have you been dreaming about a holiday in Spain?

We just returned from an amazing trip to Spain with our extended family in the Catalonia region of the country. You may remember that we stopped in Paris on the way to see our family. This was the view from our balcony at the villa.

It was unbelievable to wake up to this view each morning.

The villa we rented slept up to 28 people and there was plenty of room for everyone to enjoy the holiday and to have privacy. I’ll share more about the villa later in this post and I’m also thinking about writing a post all about getting that gorgeous rustic Spanish villa style. I wanted to take home so much of the decor AND the entire kitchen!

Are you ready to hear more about our holiday in Spain? I’m so excited to share all the lovely details.

How to Get to Spain

There are many ways to get to Spain. There are direct flights from Boston and New York. England offers cheap Ryan Air flights from London and Bristol. Since we were already in Paris we decided to take the train.

Why We Opted to Take the TGV

We actually took the train from Paris to Barcelona. We went from Gare de Lyon and the journey took 6 1/2 hours on the TGV. We travelled first class and had a spacious table and ample leg room. In fact, I found this more comfortable than flying. There was a dining car onboard and a bathroom.

The TGV starts at 30 euros each way. To give you an idea we paid 428 euros for 4 tickets in first class. It would have been 350 euros for regular, but I think prices vary on time of travel and the season you’re traveling in.

The TGV is a high speed train. It travels at up to 199 MPH.

Luke and Conor read and John and I enjoyed painting with watercolors. I used this travel set. See more about my travel art supplies. Painting made the journey fly by!

Luke thought about driving from Paris to Barcelona when we were planning the trip, but that would mean two days of driving and that he wouldn’t be able to fully relax.

One of my favorite things was looking out the window, watching Southern France and the countryside of Spain pass by us. We really saw more than we would have if we drove and it also meant we got there quicker than driving.

Why We Loved The TGV

• Breathtaking views right from our seat
• Plenty of room to spread out in first class with a table and comfortable chairs
• High speed meant we got to our destination quicker – only 6 1/2 hours from Paris to Barcelona
• Ease of travel – no long lines or security of airport travel
• Everyone could relax – rather than driving

Where is Catalonia?

Catalonia is a region in the North East of Spain and is bordered by the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean Sea.

The Capital of Catalonia is Barcelona. The region is broken into four provinces – Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona.

Catalan is spoken in Catalonia. We saw many Catalan flags while we were out walking in many of the regions we visited.

Why You’ll love Spain

• The people are friendly and welcoming
• The warm ocean waters and beautiful countryside
• The delicious food – tapas, fresh seafood, paella and more!
• Historic architecture

Why You Should Think of Renting a Villa

We rented a villa that slept up to 28 people in Borils. The villa is Can Tallada and truly had it all – a pool with a covered area and bathroom, an annex with a separate kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms and a three floor historic villa with large reception rooms, enormous kitchen, and most of the bedrooms were all en suite. I loved the decor of the villa so much!

Renting a villa for your group means you can have more space to have a private vacation. It is also very affordable when you divide the cost over many people. Our family loves to cook and eat together so we split the cost of beverages and food.

The kitchen had plenty of room to spread out and cook and there was also an outdoor grill where we cooked most of our meals.

I wish I could have brought the kitchen home with me! I LOVED everything about it – the high ceilings, the double ranges, the hood, the white walls, Spanish tile floors, the natural decor and elements. Oh, gosh, I can go on and on about the decor, BUT I’ll save that for another post…

There were 19 of us in total and we all had a thoroughly relaxing getaway and also enjoyed lots of family time together:

You can see we’re a zany bunch. There was a pool table, a ping pong table, and a lovely pool.

We enjoyed taking many family photos on the grounds and enjoyed a private dinner prepared by a Spanish chef and her family. Probably the BEST paella I’ve ever had!

Enjoying a Traditional Spanish Dinner

This traditional dinner was lovely. We planned this for the middle of our stay. The chef created a beautiful setting at the long table up by the house and we enjoyed a three course meal by candle light.

It included a zucchini carpacio, seafood paella, and a creme caramel dessert. We enjoyed it in true Spanish style – dining on Paella at 11pm and we all didn’t go to bed until 3am!!!

More About Bordils

The villa we stayed in was located in Bordils – a small town in the countryside. Luke and I got up early every morning to walk about the beautiful streets of the town and to the countryside.

It was amazing to see all that was growing – apples, maize, olives, sunflowers, flowers, poplar trees for paper and there were so many things we didn’t recognize. We found the irrigation system fascinating too.

This church was located in the small town our villa was in. Isn’t it beautiful and I love the olive trees flanking it:

Each morning we’d walk a different way and say “Bon Dia” to all the locals.

By 9 it started getting too hot to walk. So if you go to this area in July I recommend getting up early for walks. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip – our morning walks just the two of us!

Day Trip Ideas

Barcelona

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and is quite a large sprawling city. I wasn’t prepared for how big it was. We actually didn’t get a chance to see too much of the city because we met Luke’s brother and his family for dinner and had the morning here before needing to go onto the villa. There is a train from Barcelona to Girona and Bordils. The drive to Bordils is just over an hour.

Gaudí Architecture is very popular in Barcelona. Some sites you may want to check out are:

• La Sagrada Familia
• Parc Güell
• Palau Güell
• Colònia Güell
• Bellesguard
• Casa Calvet
• Casa Battló
• Casa Vicens

We only had two hours so took our boys to Parc Güell and we loved it here. The architecture, the gardens, and views were all breathtaking.

Cadaqués & Port Ligat

Cadaqués is a beautiful coastal town just two hours from Bordils. To get there you need to drive through the Pyranees and I was so glad Luke was driving. Think twisty turny roads with steep drops!

But once we got here the winding cliff top ride was worth it! Cadaqués is a small fishing town located right on the Cap de Creus peninsula. Beautiful white buildings and shops, winding cobbled streets, lovely restaurants, and rocky beaches make it a beautiful day trip.

I took this photo shortly after we arrived and I wished there wasn’t cloud cover. Picture the Spanish tile roofs, white buildings, against a cerulean sky.

Things to do in Cadaqués

• Visit the Santa Maria de Cadaqués – a Roman Catholic church with an ornate altar. It’s the highest point in Cadaqués.

• Swim in the sea – the water was crystal clear!

• Admire the street art – visible on many of the buildings.

• Watch the world go by with a cold drink on the beach at this famous spot. Maritim Bar was frequented by Salvador Dalí, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and many, many more.

• Stroll the cobbled streets.

• Have refreshing gelato and visit a gallery.
• Enjoy tapas. We loved had amazing tapas at Restaurant La Sal Cadaqués. It was just across the street from the sea.

The Patatas Bravas were amazing. I’m still dreaming of them:

We also loved the trio of dips:

Port Lligat

Port Lligat is walking distance from Cadaqués. The streets are very steep – similar to San Francisco. Port Lligat is a tiny fishing village with a pretty port and lovely beach. We actually found beautiful sea glass and pottery shards on this beach.

Port Lligat is most famous for the Salvador Dalí home and museum. Dalí lived here from the 1930s until 1982. We were unable to go inside because tickets were sold out for the week. If you’re going I’d recommend pre-booking tickets before your arrival, especially in the summer months.

Roses

We decided to stop by Roses on the Costa Brava so the boys could swim for the first time in the Mediterranean. The beach was pretty busy and there was someone selling coconuts and pineapples. The water was so warm compared to our frigid Atlantic in New England.

Girona

Girona was only a twenty minutes drive from the villa. What a lovely small medieval city. There was ample parking in the city.

Things to do in Girona

Walk the city wall. The medieval wall is one of the oldest and longest Carolingian walls in Europe.

The views were spectacular.

The Jewish Quarter is one of the oldest and best preserved in all of Europe.

Walk across the Eiffel Bridge. Gustav Eiffel built this before the Eiffel Tower.

Visit the Cathedral. It is stunning and you may recognize it if you watched Game of Thrones.

We just loved walking around and enjoyed a delicious tapas lunch.

There really was so much to see in this Medieval city and a fun juxtaposition to the seaside town of Cadaqués.

How Long Should You Visit Spain?

We were in Spain for 8 days and this was a great amount of time for our family. We had relaxing time by the pool and then interspersed day trips. It felt relaxing but also inspiring. I hope this gave you a few ideas if you’re planning a trip to Spain.

I have to share this photo of John on our bedroom balcony. Doesn’t he look like a 1930s movie star on holiday at a Spanish villa?

Want More Travel Ideas?

We love to travel and feel so fortunate to be able to travel again and to see our family (some of whom we haven’t seen in 6 years). If you enjoy traveling you might also like these posts:

• Places to Visit In Paris
• Discovering Maine’s Hidden Gems
• Visiting Cornwall
• Why You Should Bring Kids to Wine Country
• Things to do on the Central California Coast
• Windsor Castle
• Spanish Holiday in Southern Spain

Let’s Stay In Touch

Did you enjoy our holiday in Spain? If so, let me know! Be sure to pin this for later:

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